Planet of Silence
by Takada Saiko
Summary: After the Master stows away on the TARDIS, he and the Doctor crash land on a familiar planet, they find it deserted and silent. Something is wrong, and to survive it the two may have to help each other get through it. Co-written with Gabrielle Day.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Planet of Silence

Authors: Takada Saiko and Gabrielle Day

Disclaimers: We do not own the two last remaining Time Lords, but if anyone knows where we can get our hands on a TARDIS, please, let us know.

Notes: So, this is what happens when Gabi says 'Watch Doctor Who', I do, and then we write. Haha. This is a slightly AU that follows directly after the third season and is also connected to my one-shot "Curse of the Time Lords," but it's not an absolute requirement to read it. I'd highly appreciate it though =D

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Chapter One.

No matter how many years he lived, how many lifetimes that his one overstretched, or how many companions that he knew, it never got any easier. Leaving them behind, for whatever reason, was always the new hardest-thing-he'd-ever-done, and he was really, really starting to hate it.

He'd given up on traveling with anyone for a while, and then he'd met Rose. Fat lot of good that had done. He'd loved her, as much as he ever could wrap his mind around the idea, but he'd managed to destroy her life. There'd been Astrid and Martha as well. Well, after everything, at least one of them got out alive and in their correct dimension.

The Doctor sighed heavily and leaned against the controls to the TARDIS. He was alone again. Always alone. The machinery buzzed around him and he reached over and flipped a switch, starting the ship moving on its way. It jolted and he moved around, his usual energy quelled considerably, as he worked the various levers and buttons. The time machine gave a violent lurch, sending him off to one side. Dark brown eyes widened as he realized that was not just the usual hiccups of a ship run by only one man. He stood as it shuddered again and he reached for his faithful hammer to work it back into functioning mode.

"Come on, don't do this to me now. Doesn't a break sound nice? Somewhere with good, even temperatures, very little precipitation, nothing completely evil trying to blow down the door? We can manage that, can't we?" he murmured to her. He tweaked the usual buttons and levers and for a moment the TARDIS seemed to even out. It was the deception before the spiral. The TARDIS tilted harshly, sending the Doctor staggering and grabbing for a railing to keep himself from being totally thrown around.

The Doctor growled in frustration and pulled himself up. He yanked down a screen and shoved his glasses into place, eyes quickly taking in the readings. "No, no kickback from there. It isn't...no it couldn't be. No comets. No dust mites. Wait...two life forms? What? What are you talking about?" he demanded of the ship.

"Perhaps she's merely commenting that it is little comfort to offer her safety from completely evil things blowing down the door when the completely evil thing is already inside."

The Doctor spun around, eyes wide. "What?" he demanded of the familiar face that stood grinning at him. It was that grin that unnerved him to his deepest core. That grin that told him that things were about to go bad if not worse, and certainly a grin that he thought he'd never see again after its owner had died in his arms. He'd burned his body on a pyre, but there he was. In his TARDIS. "Master?"

The grin broadened. "I like it when you use my name," the other Time Lord purred and leapt down from his perch, sending the Doctor sprawling as the time machine lurched too and fro, angry with her secondary passenger.

The Doctor was stunned and didn't move out of the way in time block the blow to his jaw. He felt the cool metal of the TARDIS floor against his cheek and the warm hands of a man who should by all accounts be dead close around his throat. "You..can't..." he gasped, kicking and trying to claw the arms away. "We're crashing! You don't know when or where we'll end up!"

"Maybe I don't care. Maybe it doesn't matter. I'll kill you and take the TARDIS far away from wherever we wind up. Tell me, Doctor, were you able to fix everything? Were you able to heal all those little people who had to spend that year on my platform?"

Images flashed through his mind of the very people that his former friend spoke of and all the pain seemed to crash around him again like a tidal wave. Pain, desperation, anger.

"I'll take that as a no," the other chirped. The TARDIS convulsed again, this time throwing the two men apart. The Doctor rolled, trying to regain his bearings. It would do no good to roll over and die here. Whatever the case for the Master, he was his responsibility.

Dark brown eyes met gold as the ship gave what felt like a roll, turning the entire console room upside down.

Both Time Lords groaned as they collided with the ceiling. The Master grabbed his shoulder and bit off a curse. The sudden silence and stillness seemed almost stifling.

The Doctor braced himself against the side and looked around. "Hold on, hold on, I think we've stopped."

"Is this how you've survived so long? Brilliant deductions like that?" the Master asked wryly. A small stream of water curved around the upside-down staircase and dripped down past him. "I hope you were running a bath or I'll be tempted to think your pool's overrunning."

"Aww, that'll take ages to clean up." the Doctor groaned.

A small creak caused them to both fall silent. They looked at each other and both grimaced when another creak reached them. Ever so slowly, the TARDIS began titling, picking up momentum as she went.

"You landed us on a slope, you git!"

"It's not like I got much of a landing with you jumping me like that!"

The two Time Lords hung on as best they could as the TARDIS titled and rolled down whatever piece of land they'd managed to come across in the chaos of the landing.

When it finally stopped - they hoped - the Doctor picked himself up and rushed to the controls. "My poor girl," he cooed as he ran a hand along the machinery.

"Do you need a moment?" the Master grumbled, standing and checking to make sure he was still mostly intact. This was _not_ how he'd planned this trip.

The Doctor ignored him and continued to fiddle with the controls. Smoke poured from them and sparks flew, but it didn't look completely beyond repair.

The Master kicked at the console. "Can't you do anything right?" he asked.

The TARDIS gave a screech and the Doctor reached over and pushed him away. "Don't do that! What is the matter with you? If you're not going to be helpful go stand over there until I can figure out what to do with you."

"That's very funny. You do realize that I came here to kill you and take this blasted machine away from you, correct?"

"Oh well that's original. Like we haven't spent the last year of our lives doing just that and look how it turned out for you. Yes. You get shot by a girl and I save the universe. Just in case you missed any of that." The Doctor snapped.

"And in the process you ended up all alone. Again."

Silence hung in the air until an alarm began screeching, the TARDIS demanding her owner's attention. The Doctor gave a sniff, trying to push down the hurt that threatened him over the words. "Like you're any better off," he managed, adjusting his skewed glasses and working on the control panel. "Apparently we're stuck at each other's throats for all of eternity."

The Master gave a nonchalant shrug. "Fills the time."

"Really? So, taking over planets and enslaving people to wage war against the universe is just a good way to fill the time?" the Doctor demanded, turning and glaring. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation.

That grin reappeared on the other Time Lord's face. "Thought you had forgiven me."

"And then you broke my TARDIS!"

The Master shrugged and winced, hand going to the shoulder he'd landed on mid-flip. The Doctor almost moved towards him and then thought better of it. "How did you do it, anyway? You were dead, you know." he said quietly, running a hand through his spiky hair.

The Master sent him a sidelong glance and watched him carefully for a moment before pulling a thin necklace out of his shirt. "Tiranthian Crystal. Delays healing processes quiet nicely. You only thought I was dead. And wasn't that just so sweet. Nice girl, Lucy, couldn't aim worth a damn. Of course waking up to my body mere seconds from being consumed by flames was just the icing on the cake. You really outdid yourself."

"That's what you get for making people think you're dead," the Doctor shot back, irritated. He turned his eyes back to the controls, glancing sidelong every once and a while. "You want me to take a look at it?" he ventured when he realized the Master's attention was on his injured shoulder.

Golden eyes narrowed. "Always got to fix something, dotcha? Anyway, you've got your hands full with your wrecked ship."

The Doctor's lips twitched in a downward motion. "Come on, now. She's rebooting. Not like there's much we can do but wait. Every Time Lord's favorite past-time. Let me have a look."

The Master watched as the Doctor slowly moved closer, willing himself not to flinch as the other reached out to touch him. It hadn't been so long ago that he had been dead. So blissfully close to the darkness of the after, with only the sound of the Time Lord's cry to send him into oblivion. Of course it couldn't be that simple. There were things still yet to be done. No time to be dead, even for him.

The Doctor had already taken over his space, leaning over his shoulder as his fingers poked and prodded and him himmed and okayed'd his way around.

Golden eyes slipped closed and he clenched his teeth. He could still hear the drumming. That would never change. It was the sound that would always be there, always driving him perfectly mad.

Death. Death was the only silence for it. He'd discovered that his own was not the rout he was willing to take, but others... That seemed to come so easily. Like the bleeding-heart Doctor that stood there, moments ago so angry with him, now tending to a trifling wound that would knit itself back together given a couple of hours. It would be so easy to catch him off of his guard right then and without anyone to protect, the Master wondered what kind of a fight he would really put up. They were on some distant planet that was not his beloved Earth, away from all of those sniveling Humans...

He pulled away suddenly. "Leave it."

The Doctor blinked at him, looking surprised. "It's out of socket. It won't set right till you put it back in."

"It'll heal on it's own." The Master said, pulling further away.

The Doctor watched him, wary and confused. "That'll take hours. Why would you want to hurt longer on purpose?"

The Master closed his eyes and focused on the pain, the flashes when he moved, the burn when he held it perfectly still. He frowned when the dull throb began to keep time with the beat in the back of his mind. "It's none of your business." he murmured. He pinched the bridge of his nose before rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Just leave me alone."

"Ha!" the Doctor snorted, throwing his hands in the air. "Leave him alone, he says! Aren't you the one who stowed away?"

"To get to you, not to have you continuously try to fix me!" the other barked, gold eyes flashing with anger and irritation. If he took one more step he was going to –

"You're impossible."

"Glad you noticed, but it goes both ways."

The Doctor took a deep breath and stepped forward again, about to go into full rant mode. The Master lunged forward with a snarl, grabbing the Doctor's throat with his good hand and shoved him back towards the console. He didn't stop until the Doctor's back was shoved against the panel forcing the other Time Lord to put one hand down to brace himself while the other clawed at his wrist. "Oh come on, Doctor. You can do better than this." the Master hissed.

"Stop. Just stop. I don't want to hurt you."

"That seems to be your greatest downfall. You're never actually willing to do _anything _worthwhile. And there's no-one coming to your rescue this time."

"Oh for the love of..." Finally the Doctor kicked out, half surprise that he was able to make enough contact to force the Master backwards and to release his throat. He rubbed at the place the other's hand had just been wrapped around and glared.

A broad grin was once again plastered on the madman's face. "Well look at that. He can fight back!"

"That's enough! We are quite possibly in the middle of nowhere and this is _pointless_! We should be-"

"Working together to blah blah blah, I _know_," the Master mocked. "What do you want from me, Doctor? A promise to play nice and do my very best not to rip your head from your shoulders?"

"That'd be a start." He paused, risking a glance back at the machinery. The TARDIS would take a while to repair herself and until then they were stuck. Just great, and the Master seemed more off than usual, if that were even possible. At least before he'd been calculated, but now it seemed almost as if he were battling his inner demons to such an extent that he wasn't in control of anything. "So," the Doctor murmured at last, peering over his glasses, "if you're so keen on killing me, why didn't you do it when you had me completely defenseless for a year? Why didn't you kill me then?"

The Master sat at the bottom of the staircase and titled his head, his brown-gold gaze never leaving the Doctor. "That was about making you suffer. Which, might I add, I did quite well. Next time though I'll know to kill your companion at the very beginning. Very pesky, all these humans you gather before scattering their ashes to the wind."

"You didn't seem to mind them all that time. Even took yourself a wife, if I recall."

"Oh, come now. You know perfectly well it was all for the part. And they had their amusements, certainly. But you'll never find me pining away for my faux wife what's-her-name like you do for Rose Tyler. Or even Martha Jones. You're adding to the list all the time." A smile perked his lips at the look that crossed the Doctor's face at Rose's name. "Ooh... Hit a sore spot, have I?"

"You don't know _anything_," the Doctor hissed, anger flaring. He'd tried, he told himself. He'd really, really tried, but he was about done with trying. Why shouldn't he be?

"Actually, I know more than you might think," the other answered and stretched out leisurely. "I know that Ms. Tyler caught your fancy and landed herself in a whole other dimension. Nearly died because of you."

"Shut up."

"May be dead over there and you'd never know."

"I said _shut up_!"

"There is one thing I've been dying to know. Did both of your hearts break when she got trapped, or just one?" the Master asked with vicious glee.

The Doctor actually jerked forward and the Master held his breath for one second, almost believing it would be enough to get him to lash out. It wasn't quite. The Doctor turned away from him and moved further away around the console, fiddling with switches and knobs. The Master was disappointed to find that the slumped curve of the shoulders in the pin stripped suit felt like less of a victory than it should.

His fingers tapped a steady beat on the metal beneath him, echoing the sound that he was so accustomed to in his mind. "Couldn't have been both," he mused at last, watching the other carefully for a reaction. "Moved on far too quickly for that." He stood when the Doctor only continued with what he was doing and inched closer. Maybe if he got more of a reaction...

"The air outside's breathable," the Doctor murmured, catching the Master off guard at the change of subject and flat tone of his voice. "We should go have a look around."

"What? You don't want to stay inside and play?"

The Doctor strode past him to the door and flung it open. Light flooded in, turning the Doctor into a silhouette glowing faintly around the edges. The Master squinted and snorted softly, no matter where they went in time or space the universe would cater to the image of illuminating angel Doctor. And the man wondered why he didn't want to travel with him for the rest of eternity.

"You can do what you like. Just don't talk about her." The Doctor said quietly, stepping out of the TARDIS.

"About her?" the Master called after him, moving quickly to make sure he was heard. "About sweet Dr. Jones and her dear little family that just wanted to live their lives in peace... Or about Rose?"

"Don't you know when to quit?" the Doctor growled quietly, never turning to face the other Time Lord.

"Nope. Don't think I ever quite got that one."

"If you think you're going to irk me into taking a swing at you..." He stopped, head titling slight.

This place seemed oddly familiar, as if he'd been there before, but if he had it was much changed. Gone were the sweeping hills and the tall buildings of the city. The ancient people that had lived there with their customs and their beauty.

"Oh, yes, please. Take a swing, I beg of you..." Next to him, the Master fell silent. The stillness was almost overwhelming. No sound of water running, of life in the vegetation, no low hum of any technology, no sounds of life at all from anywhere made the planet itself seem almost dead. But the green around them indicated some habitable conditions, so the planet wasn't completely dead, just dormant. It did not feel right.

"You feel that?" the Doctor murmured.

"Yes." The Master agreed before he could stop himself.

The Doctor gave a slight sniff as he pocketed his glasses, starting forward in several long strides.

"Where the hell are you going?" the Master called after him.

"To find out what's happened here," the other answered easily. "I was here once before with... I've been here before. In the grand scheme of things, not that long ago. Certainly not long enough for this-" he swept his hand out towards the vast quietness - "to happen." He paused, the first sign of amusement in some time reaching his eyes if not the rest of his face. "If you're scared, you can wait in the TARDIS."

"Scared?" The Master demanded. "What makes you think I won't just leave with the TARDIS and let you wallow here in eternal silence?"

The Doctor reached into his pocket and dangled a knob on a chain in front of him. "Because I put the parking brake on."

The Master stepped outside and slammed the TARDIS door shut behind him. "Maybe I'll find an extremely tall cliff from which to push you." he grumbled. "Or a large, intestine eating creature. Or a flock of large, intestine eating creatures."

"If there's a flock I doubt they'll make do with just me." The Doctor said mildly.

An eerie hush loomed over the land as the two Time Lords walked, the silence pressing down on them. Neither had ever been known for their long stretches of quiet, but now they seemed unwilling to break the strange spell that seemed to be cast over the planet.

Finally, the Master took a deep breath. "So..." he whispered, unwilling to let his voice carry very far. "What was it like before?"

"If this is the same planet," the Doctor mused, equally as quiet, "then it was very beautiful. There was a very ancient race living here that kept secrets."

"They're myth."

"Not if you know where to look for them," the Doctor grinned. A distant look overtook him and the smile turned sad. "I brought Rose here. She got into a bit of trouble, but it all turned out all right."

The Master rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it ended with a kiss and a cuddle. What do you mean they kept secrets? Their secrets? Other's secrets? Freely given or taken by force?"

They crested a hill and stopped at the sight before them. A river sparkled ahead, it's movement tracked by the ripples formed from the rocks jutting out into the air. It made no sound. "That's...not possible." The Master murmured.

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A/N: So, what lies in store for our two favorite (onlyish) Time Lords? Wait and see! =D Also, we're addicted to reviews. Feel free to feed that addiction. XD


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry that this has taken so long to post. I just graduated from university and moved. It's been crazy. Happy Christmas everyone!

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"That's...not possible." The Master murmured.

**Chapter Two. **

The Doctor's eyes widened and he started down the hill at a quicker pace than they'd been walking at. His trainers made no sounds even though he skidded across a few loose rocks, nearly sending him tumbling head over heels to the bottom. He stopped when he reached smoother land, close to the water, and looked around. The hills were positioned in such a way that the river's song should have been echoing off of them. "Hello?" he called out in a loud voice, and it echoed all around them, sounding very odd amongst the nothingness it was up against.

The Master approached him, eyes scanning the area. "You just find trouble, don't you?"

"Found you, didn't I?" He paused. "As to the secrets."

"Right."

"Both. They kept things that shouldn't be found again. You remember the horror stories that they read to us as children about the Curse of the Time Lords?"

"Yeah."

"They kept it here."

"Let me guess. You found it."

"Yeah, well, Rose did really. It was a beautiful box they kept it in until the curse escaped and then it just sort of disintegrated."

The Master stared at him. "Are you telling me you _caught _the curse?"

"Yes. Luckily it had weakened over the years. Look at me now, fit as a fiddle."

"Yes, luckily." the Master agreed dryly. He looked around the empty expanse. "Makes you wonder what else they've got lurking around here." He grinned slowly. "Surely they've collected some truly wonderful, terrible things. Just imagine it, the universe's most dangerous secrets laying just beneath our feet." Both of them looked at the ground.

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. "I don't know why it would be...are you wearing a pair of my shoes?"

"My shoes melted."

"So, obviously, you take a pair of mine?"

"Have you _been_ in that wardrobe of yours? I hardly think you'll miss them." He stopped and glared. "Back to the subject at hand. Terrible, dangerous secrets."

The Doctor sighed heavily. "They were kept locked away for a reason, Master. Leave them be."

"And remind me when you began to give me orders that I follow?" "As soon as I could strand you here."

"Because you'd strand me on a planet full of dangerous secrets," the Master scoffed. He titled his head, realizing that the Doctor was no loner paying any attention to him, but had begun to move down the stream. "Hey!" he called out, irritated at the fact that he seemed to have been forgotten.

The Doctor turned around and waved at him to hush.

"Who's to say these secrets should be left alone? Not their secrets to keep, are they? And you never answered the question as to whether these secrets were given or taken. I can't imagine there would be just hundreds of creatures in the universe who would want to pop by, drop off their nasties, and continue on their merry way. Sounds like something you'd collect though. Everybody else dirty laundry to cover up your own. Yes. You just eat this up, I reckon." The Master said.

"Would you _please _shut up?" The Doctor hissed, and the Master could tell it wasn't because of what he'd been saying but because he was actually listening for something. He came even with him and the two stood shoulder to shoulder in the silence. A breeze kicked up, ruffling their hair and jackets but nothing else.

There was something there, just beyond conscious understanding. They could both feel it, but couldn't quite grasp it. The Doctor closed his eyes, straining his ears for something that he was sure that he was supposed to be hearing. Nothing sounded in the distance nor near them, but the breeze pushed past them again, swirling and dancing around them. The silence was its companion.

Dark eyes opened again and focused on the area that their owner thought that the feeling might be originating from. His feet moved forward almost of their own will and he felt a hand grasp onto his arm. He turned, chocolate eyes meeting gold and he frowned. "What do I have to lose?" he asked flippantly, coldly, and pulled away.

The Master watched him walk away and for a brief moment considered turning around and going back to the TARDIS. The Doctor wasn't fun this way, cold and detached and wishing for death. He had all those things covered just fine by himself, and he did not like this aspect of the other Time Lord one bit. If he wanted to rush off and get himself killed just because he'd lost all his little toy humans, so be it.

It wasn't until he saw the Doctor hesitate, for just a split second, head tilting back in his direction as if to hear his footsteps or the huff of his breath behind him. He really couldn't do anything alone. The Master grinned again and moved forward. "So bloody needy," he chuckled lowly. As soon as the words had left his lips, the wind came at them with a force they hadn't seen yet. The silence of it all was oppressing, as if they were domed in with the winds cutting and beating against them. It took the two Time Lords off their feet, throwing them a distance before dying down, leaving them choked for breath and lying on their back a few feet away from one an other. "What-?" the Master began, but then stopped at the look he received.

_It's listening._

It became almost painfully obvious then. One of their precious secrets had escaped and encompassed the planet in silence, waiting for anything and anyone who came by to absorb them and their secrets, too. And it was bloody invisible. He glared at the Doctor and sat up slowly, waiting for the next blow to come. When it didn't, the Doctor sat up as well. "Peachy. This is just peachy." The Master grumbled.

Both of them froze as the breeze danced by. The Doctor slowly shook his head. He stood slowly, mind working in a whirlwind of thought. They should go. They really should go. They could wait it out in the TARDIS. There didn't appear to be anyone left on this planet, so any idea of helping those in need was thrown away. There was only them, and whatever Secret was there. They really should go. Nodding to himself, deciding, the Doctor then continued in the way he'd been going. What he should do and what happened did not always coincide. If the Master chose to come along, it was his own decision.

The Master reached out and grabbed his arm again, yanking him to a halt. "Stop." he hissed quietly. He wasn't convinced that the checked out expression the Doctor was wearing was because of his latest Earth adventure. If he had been here before and been exposed to one of the secrets resting here, there was no reason to think that the virus couldn't have been dormant until now. That whatever was rustling around in the breeze wasn't crawling around inside his head and pulling the strings. As he stared into restless brown eyes, he realized there was no reason to think any of that was the case either. "I can't believe it. It hadn't occurred to me before now that you are just as crazy as I am." he murmured.

"What?" the other asked, half-forgetting to keep his voice down. The breeze rustled around them but nothing more. The Doctor looked indignant for a moment, sputtering and trying not to let his voice rise to a level that would bring forth the wrath of whatever they might be up against. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. These people have finally driven you mad. Why else are you bouncing off to the unknown? Why do you always skip to something else that wants to rip you to shreds?"

"Says the one that would like to do it himself."

"I have perfectly legitimate reasons for wanting to kill you. You have a compulsive, driving need to thrust yourself into planets and civilizations and relationships that all hang on the razor's edge and you press yourself into it enough to feel the burn, to feel the barest hints of the blood but you never go far enough to make the final cut."

"Oh, and what, you're here to offer that to me? The final peace and quiet so you can wreak havoc across the universe? I don't think so."

"Why do you think you can heal the universe by taking all of its pain?" The Master demanded. A harsh gust of wind hit him in the chest.

"Because I'm the Doctor and that is what I do!" the other Time Lord growled out, standing his ground against the winds. "And if I can save just one person, just one, then maybe it'll be worth it."

The Master looked up at him, eyes wide and staring at the winds that were building up around his former friend. "Always one more, then?" he whispered. "Looks like you'll always be alone."

"Then you should go so that can be the case." The Doctor said, turning his back to him.

The Master forced himself to his feet, keeping one arm up to break the wind from hitting him directly in the face. "Have you ever stopped to consider, Doctor, that the one individual you occasionally need to save is yourself?" he shouted.

The winds died, leaving them again in the eerie quiet of the planet. The Doctor half turned and the Master studied his profile as rolled his injured shoulder. The tendons were still sore and it popped as he wound it around slowly and he frowned. It felt the same as it had when he'd stepped off the TARDIS and they'd been wandering around the countryside long enough that it should have knit itself back together by now.

The Doctor let out a long sigh, as if all the breath in his lungs was released with it. "Maybe I'm not worth it," he murmured lowly, even against the silence. Giving the slightest shake of his head he turned towards the Master. "That didn't sound right."

"Again!" The wind blew him off his feet and he cursed loudly, burrowing down against another gust.

"You do realize," the Doctor whispered as he crouched next to him, nimble fingers hovering next to his wounded shoulder, "that every time that wind hits us, its source is just that much closer to finding us."

"I'm sorry. Isn't that what you were hoping for? The big, bad source so you can either conquer it or fall martyr to it?" The Master growled. He winced as the Doctor gripped his shoulder.

"No. Yes. Maybe. Your shoulder isn't healing. That's not normal. Why isn't it healing? Not a side effect of that necklace you used, you injured your shoulder when the TARDIS crashed." He titled his head. "It stopped healing when we got off the TARDIS, didn't it?"

The Master nodded slowly and pursed his lips in a disbelieving smirk. "Killer winds? Really?"

"And it's just one of the multitude of Secrets that could have escaped on this planet," the Doctor murmured quietly. "No warnings have gone out about this place. Anyone could land here." He stood again, looking towards where he'd been walking. "We have to find out what started it all."

"_We_ don't have to do anything. What do I give a damn about this planet or its inhabitants?"

"You give a damn about yourself," his former friend growled. "Now come on. I have an idea."

The Master watched, resisting the urge for his jaw to drop as he watched the other Time Lord race to the top of a hill. This didn't look promising. With less haste, he followed. The Doctor stood on top of the hill, watching carefully. If he were right, and he usually was, this hadn't been started by one simple slipped Secret. There was something more devious below it. Something using the Secrets.

"Hello out there!" he called very loudly over the hills. "I'm the Doctor and I demand to know what you're doing to this planet!"

"Oh, because that was absolutely the smartest move you've ever made," the Master grumbled as he came to stand next to him.

The first sound, the whooshing of gathering winds picking up speed but nothing visible emerged. The force hit the Master in the center of his chest, knocking the breath from his lungs and sending him sprawling down the hill. He struggled under the force of it, the unseen crushing him into the ground. There was nothing to grab at, nothing to kick against and white exploded at the edges of his visions from being unable to suck in any air.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Wait! No! Not him!" he yelled out at the top of his lungs, waving his arms wildly and shuffling down the hill. "I called you! Come out and face me!" He hit what was like an invisible wall around the mad Time Lord, swirling around and picking up bits of dirt along with it. In the center, the other was being crushed by the shear pressure of it all. His gold eyes were wide and pain-filled, his mouth open in a silent scream. "LET HIM GO!" the Doctor bellowed desperately. It was all his fault. Again.

He jerked against the wall separating him from the other Time Lord and tried to think around the fear and fury screaming in his head. Something had reached the planet before them and either loosed the Secrets, or was powerful enough to harness them. Or had something bargain with, but how did you argue with a Secret?

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair and slammed a fist against the wall in front of him. The Master was losing consciousness and was running out of time. "Please!" The Doctor shouted. The invisible force vanished.

The Doctor fell to his knees, the wall gone and the force that he'd been battling against subsided. Quickly he scurried to the Master's prone form, fear building again. The other Time Lord was deathly pale, choking and wheezing as he gulped air into his lungs. The breeze teased at their hair, reminding the Doctor that it was still there, prowling just beyond his reach. His attention was brought back to the injured Time Lord who was still trying to regain control.

"How?" the Master gasped when he finally had the breath to do so. "Apparently please really is the magic word," the Doctor murmured.

The Master decided taking a little support in the face of being smushed like a bug was acceptable and did not comment when the Doctor held his shoulders as he sat up and regulated his breathing. "You. Have got to be kidding." he gasped. "You said _please?_" He winced as wind rushed through his short brown hair.

"Yes, and it can still hear you." The Doctor said through clenched teeth.

"Well it can bugger off." The Master snapped. "Anything that hides behind wind is a coward."

A new gush came through, throwing him away from the Doctor. He lay back on the grass, gasping for air all over again, feeling very much like some had just punched him in the gut. "Please, he didn't mean it!"

"Like hell I didn't!"

The Doctor shot him a glare, shutting him up. "Please, I just want to talk with you. Can you show yourself?"

"We will not show ourselves to the Doctor. We remember your face. We know your faces. We know his face, as well. We have heard the stories of the lost planet of the Time Lords." The voice was soft, melodic, and almost childlike in sound.

"Then you know that I just want to help. Tell me what happened on this planet. Where did the city go?"

"You say you want to help. We also know you are the Oncoming Storm." The winds swirled violently at the title.

The Master sat and leaned forwarded on his knees, smiling. "Isn't that lovely. They do know you."

"Please, I don't want to harm you. I just want to understand. To help. Let me help you." He stepped forward, feeling the winds swirling around him. He wasn't quite sure what the creature was. Obviously a consciousness, but if it could take a true form he wasn't sure. Was it simply what happened when the Secrets were released? Did it form something entirely new?

"You bring death and destruction in your wake," the voice wailed, forcing the Doctor back a step.

"Now that just isn't fair. You do everything you can to be beloved by all and I actually do bring death and destruction -which I don't appreciate you making everyone forget, if I haven't mentioned that- and still you're known for what I want to accomplish." The Master said, standing and brushing his dress shirt off.

"You are the Vengeance." the voice said darkly.

"Ah. Someone is paying attention."

"You're really not helping anyone, including yourself." The Doctor murmured.

"You're obviously not going anywhere with this. Damn thing tried to crush me. Just because you were a little polite you thought it'd taken a fancy to you, but no... It just wanted to let you know it wasn't your number one fan."

"Enough." The wind lashed out at both of them, sending both Time Lords sprawled out on their back all over again.

"What is it that you want then?" the Doctor asked. "If you won't let me help, then tell me what you want from us and we can be on our way."

"You are not here to help us. We are here to help you. We are here to end your suffering. The curse was weak and not enough. We will do better."

The Master and Doctor exchanged glances, both looking mildly troubled by this pronouncement. "I'm afraid you can't have him. I've got dibs on ending his suffering. Well, after extending it, of course. So, unless you've got a busty blonde ex-companion of his stashed away in your wind tunnels somewhere, you can scurry along now." The Master said.

"The Master will refrain from standing in our way."

"Ironic statement there," he grumbled and glanced to the Doctor, grinning like mad. The Doctor did not share his amusement.

"Go."

"What?" The winds began to pick up with a greater ferocity than before. "Run!" the Doctor yelled, his words echoing through the vast silence. He didn't have to tell the Master a third time as the same feeling of dread hit him in a delayed fashion and he and the Doctor took off towards the TARDIS.

"Even Time Lords do not run faster than the wind." The voice said casually.

The Master turned in time to see the Doctor forced off his feet and pulled towards the river. He stopped. The wind did nothing to him. _The Master will refrain from standing in our way_, the voice had said. As long as he did nothing, it would leave him alone. He titled his head, processed the cold feeling spreading through his chest, the increase of his double heartbeat at the sight of the Doctor being pulled towards the water, panic in his deep brown eyes.

Normally he would enjoy this, but he had no control, and that was not only unenjoyable but unacceptable. "It is terribly inconvenient that I have to save your life only to kill you later." he said softly.

The Doctor, to his credit, was struggling against the wind. He was not one to go down without a fight if it did not entail the saving of someone else. He felt the winds growing stronger and stronger with the more that he fought, leaving small, thin lines of blood across his face and ripping into his clothing. He tried to duck downwards, hoping to escape its hold, but was thrown into the water with a force that the consciousness had not shown yet. He gasped in pain, feeling as if the wind had gone _through_ him when it had pushed him, and gulped a full mouthful of water. His limbs felt heavy and he could feel the darkness beginning to blot his vision.

The Master calmly headed towards the river. "The Master will not interfere." the voice said.

"You realize that's an oxymoron, don't you? I am the Master. You don't tell me what I will and will not do." he said. The winds picked up and he waited, timing it. The gust came and he pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his coat pocket. "Sorry. Forgot to mentioned I borrowed this." He aimed it at the oncoming gust and pushed a button, causing the wind to dissipate in a faint shriek of protest. He stepped into the water, still pointing the screwdriver ahead of him. "Give me the Doctor." he commanded.

"The Master will not interfere!"

"Don't make me say it again," the Master growled out, the screwdriver giving a low hum and the water began to bubble.

The Doctor floated to the top, facedown in it and very, very still. His usual adversary frowned deeply and reached out, pulling him closer by the ankle and then pulling him upward, keeping the sonic screwdriver tightly clutched in one hand incase the entity decided it wanted to launch an other attack. A couple of gashes ran along his cheekbones and blood dotted his white shirt beneath the brown jacket. He gave a small, choked sound as the Master pulled him onto the shore.

The Master crouched, Doctor propped against him, head lolling against his shoulder. The Doctor coughed, his entire body spasming with the effort, water forced out of his body and replaced with air he'd been denied.

"Keep breathing. I can't perform life saving maneuvers and hold this thing at the same time." The Master said coolly.

The Doctor frowned and realized what he was holding. "Where'd you get that?" he rasped.

"Your pocket." The Doctor nodded and shut his eyes.

"The Master should not have interfered."

"Seriously, what are you that a little piece of crap like _this_ could scare you?" the Master wondered aloud.

"Oi," the Doctor protest weakly at the insult to his screwdriver.

"All right, he doesn't want to die now, so you can scoot on along. We'll leave, you can have this planet to devour, everyone gets out happy, right?"

"The Master should not have interfered."

The Time Lord in question let out a frustrated growl as he eased the Doctor to the ground, taking his stance against their enemy. "Are you a bloody broken record or what? Shut up and go away!" he bellowed, setting himself against the angry wind.

"What is this matter to you? Is he not your chosen enemy? You said yourself it was your place to kill him and not mine. But it is mine and the Master will not interfere with the silence!"

The screwdriver was snatched out of his hands and he was pushed back by the force. It pulled away from him and he braced himself, knowing the strike would come. The creature learned, he realized, as the cut ran through him, blood splattering at both the entrance and exit points, that a force did not have to be great to be deadly. He held the pain at bay for several long seconds before it overwhelmed him and with a gasp he slipped to his knees.

The Master smiled. "Told you that thing was useless." he said. He touched his chest and pulled his hand away, slick with blood.

"Master!" the Doctor cried out, trying to pull himself to his knees. He'd regained his breath and was scurrying over to the fallen Time Lord before the other even realized he'd made it to his feet. Firm hands pressed against the wound, eliciting a hiss of pain.

"Always... gotta fix it, don'tcha?" the Master gasped out and the other gave a faint smile.

"Just lie still. Don't move." Brown eyes looked frantic and the Master could tell that his brain was going as fast as it could having just been deprived of life-sustaining oxygen. He really would be irritated if he had to use up a regeneration over something as silly as a gust of wind.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor perked at the voice, which certainly hadn't come from the Time Lord lying on the ground. Pretty and feminine, he recognized it. It was the voice that always filled his dreams and many of his waking thoughts.

The Doctor turned, hands still covering the wound on the Master. Hope lit up within him at the sight before his eyes. "Rose." he whispered.

* * *

A/N: Reviews are addicting. Please, feed the addiction =)


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